Alvastra stilt houses
Coordinates: 58°17′N 14°41′E / 58.283°N 14.683°E
The Alvastra pile-dwelling (Swedish: Alvastra pålbyggnad or Alvastraboplatsen) is a pile dwelling (also called a stilt house) from ca 3000 BC in Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden. Southern Scandinavia has many types of cult centres, but the Alvastra pile dwelling is unique in Northern Europe and is the only of its kind outside of the Alpine Pile Dweller culture. It was the seasonal social and religious centre of a tribe that left objects from the Funnelbeaker culture, but pottery from the Pitted Ware culture, in the dwelling. Ca 2/3 of the pile dwelling was excavated by archaeologists in the years 1908–18, 1928–39 and 1976–80.
The archaeologists found stilts made of deciduous trees, notably oak, hazel, elm and crabapple. A dendrochronological study showed that the construction had proceeded in two stages during 18 years, and after a break of 22 years, the work had been finished 40–42 years after the work had begun.
During the first years, the construction consisted of two rectangular surfaces, which were delimited by rows of oak stakes and the surfaces were placed in an oblique angle. Each rectangle was ca 200 m² and were separated into eight or nine rooms. Most of the rooms had floors of logs. The reconstructions and the additions were partly motivated by fires, and the construction finally measured 1000 m². The construction was connected with the shore by footbridges on both sides.
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